A shower as Druid practice?

[Twig]

I am going through a phase that finds me unable to meditate. I can't figure out the problem, and it's really frustrating.

I am blessed to have a wonderful new shower made from river stones on the floor and bench, and 12" sand-colored tile on the walls. When I take a long shower (as opposed to a "duty shower"), I light a candle and some incense (fire & air). Then while in the shower, there is water represented by the large shower head, and of course, earth from the rocks I stand upon. I have hung a glorious photograph of a place here in Texas called Hamilton Pool (or "hippie hollow" in the old days) which features a graceful waterfall backed by a sunny blue sky and a huge limestone area behind the waterfall. I find that it's really easy to get into a space where I can actually feel the water running through my body; I can totally be "in" that waterfall photo.

So, I am wondering if y'all experience Druidry in everyday life like this?

[Badger Bob]

When I practised Iaido regularly we would often go into the Peak District to find a good strong waterfall to practice our stances and then meditate under. The constant buffeting by the water strengthened proprioception and helped us to become aware of our bodies in total, not just the hands, feet and eyes. Your shower isn't going to be as strong as a peat bog emptying down a fifty foot drop but I would guess that there would be some similar benefit from stimulating the nervous system in such a pleasant way. Forget sweat lodges, waterfalls are the place for out of body experiences!

[DaRC]

Hey Bob Texan showers are stronger than our British showers... because everythings bigger in Texas

But yes Twig Hamilton's pool is a lovely place, it was amazing for me to see all the wild maidenhair fern's growing down the side of the waterfall - here they are a houseplant. Now hippie hollow that was a skyclad place on Lake Travis when i lived in Austin.

For everyday druidy I meditate in the bath - it tends to be the only undisturbed place in the house, particularly when the kids were younger. I tend to use the bath for washing in the winter after cycle commuting home when I need to warm up.

[Jake]

Hamilton Pool is one of my absolute favorite spots on earth, so beautiful. And Hippie Hollow is still here, still a very active place, and still clothing optional. They are two very different places although I could see how frequently going skinny-dipping at Hamilton Pool could confuse the two in one's memory.

When did you live here, DaRC? Ever come back to visit?

Twig, what you're describing sounds like meditation to me. Instead of being unable to meditate, maybe you're just finding a different way to do it that suits you right now?

[DarcArchona]

Maybe something is bothering you on the subconscious level or it's bothering more than you think it is? When I try to relax, meditate, center myself in any fashion - I find that little things I don't think are bothering me usually come to the forefront and the main reason I would be unable to do anything.

just a thought

[Aurora]

Wow your shower sounds awesome Twig!

In answer to your question though, I especially love the wind i like to close my eyes and feel it on my skin and through my hair, i like to smell it and the scents it carries, and i like to watch it run through the leaves on the trees and surrounding plants too. I find it very relaxing and an easy way to be "in the moment".

[Argenta]

I am also in a similar place, I haven't felt like meditating recently, but I go on long walks, as often as I can, in the fields around my house.

I have come to know many places, but there are still many I haven't yet been to, and whenever I need to empty my mind, I just take a random course and let myself get lost a bit, then start searching for my way back. I find it very relaxing, the feeling that nobody knows where I am (including myself -- which doesn't bother me), and it also makes me focused on the here and now, just trying to orient myself and find my house.

If I get tired, I find a nice tree to sit or lie under, and just breathe, and look at the sky.
So, small things, really, but they help.

[Serenity]

The last time I had problems meditating I realised that I was trying to force the meditation. I discovered I was trying too hard to shape visualizations and to steer the meditation practice. Now I sit and surrender to what will.

Twig - I love the shower meditation. My shower catches the morning sun - I love to watch the play of light in the water droplets. Loitering in the shower is very anti-social in a water-conscious country though - a three-minute shower has been the max for such a long time in Australia!

[DaRC]

Hi Jake I lived in Austin from Halloween '92 until Yule '93 (i'd spent 3 months there in '91).
Once my eldest was born I changed jobs (for a lifestyle with a lower ecological footprint) and since then have not been in the position to go back.

But if my wife and i ever get to do our dream roadtrip across the U.S. it'll be on the list of places we have to go

I also quite like being outside in the rain (well sometimes - usually on the cycle-commute home when I get dry and warm soon after) and find that that's a different type of meditation / experience.

[Donata]

I love the sound of your shower Twig! Mine isn't as exotic, but I do use my shower time as a purification exercise - a sort of meditation. I visualize any negative energy, any blockages, worries, stress, etc., flowing from me with the shower water. I wash my hair - which it's believed catches negative energy - and visualize cleansing it of the negative energy it caught. I use a deodorant stone and say "May my day be sweet". I dry myself, rubbing briskly to get energy flowing in my body. I use talcum powder and say "May my day be easy and effortless" and so on. Whatever we do can be spiritual, and thus, a meditation even if only for a moment.

IMO you are doing a lovely meditation in your shower!

BB
Donata

[Twig]

Obviously, I got some bad information about Hamilton Pool also being called Hippie Hollow. From the description of Hippie Hollow given here, I was never there -- not that I remember, anyway! (Hey, it was the '70's). But I have actually stood under the waterfall at Hamilton Pool, and I stood behind it to hear the roar and catch the splatters of water. Transcendent!

Oh, where to start? Y'all have posted some wonderful replies. At least the sum total of them has relieved my mind; maybe what I'm doing is a type of meditation, after all. But is definitely not a stilling of the mind, rather more an expansion of it. As Jake put it, I guess it's just a "different way" of meditating. I find walking very meditative, too, Argenta. I like to walk under the cover of darkness so people won't see me standing feet apart in front of an oak tree with my hands & chin in the air!

Badger Bob made me look up the word "proprioception." Maybe I should have checked a different dictionary, because the example that was given in the meaning I looked up was what cops make you do when they stop you for a DWI; i, e, walk that straight line. I get the sense that you mean something like an out-of-body experience, right BB? I totally agree with you about sweat lodge vs. waterfall: All that ever happened to me in a sweat lodge was fainting.

I was surprised that so many people knew about Hamilton Pool. It certainly does dispel the stereotype of Texas as the Wild West. This is the photo across from my shower:

http://www.xerxy.com/wp-content/uploads ... n_pool.jpg

Y'all are onto me, DarcAchona & Serenity! I have felt that if I sat still to meditate, all sorts of unpleasant stuff would parade across my brain. I know there are difficult things ahead for me, and I really don't want to deal with them. Plus, I am still viewing meditation as a pass/fail course. Intellectually, I know better, because I meditated for years, twice a day, without passing judgment on myself... I am aware of the amount of water I am using when I luxuriate in the shower; still, I can't imagine getting everything done in 3 minutes! How do they know if you pass the three-minute mark in Australia? Do they cut the water off or something? Anyway, I try to make up for the water I use in taking the long shower by cutting back on other water-use activities.

Bicycling -- in the rain or not -- was one of the most meditative experiences I've ever enjoyed. I rode for several years in the Hill Country and could really let my mind just kind of disappear. It was also one way to feel the wind, Aurora. I know what you mean! Wind = freedom in some mystical way. When I lived out in the country and there was a hurricane coming our way in the Gulf of Mexico, I'd sit on the porch and just let the wind have its way with me... Rain, in general, is a very calming (unless it's one of those Texas frog-stranglers). We haven't had any rain in so long that I'd forgotten that it's one of those simple pleasures that can put one into a meditation. I'm glad you brought it up, DaRC. And I hope you get to take that trip across the US.

I remember reading about your shower ritual before, Donata. It's such a beautiful way to start the day! I haven't been aware of allowing negativities wash out of my system while I'm showering, but that's a great thing to do. You are right: Any activity can me a meditation. The trick for me is staying in the moment.

[Serenity]

Hi Twig
You have to work quickly to get everything done in a three minute shower! Dedicated water savers stand in a bucket whilst showering then throw the grey water on the vegies. Luckily we've had a lot of rain this spring and the dams are full or close to, so this summer we won't have the harsh water restrictions we've been living with for so long. Observing a three minute limit is an honour thing in the shower (my parents have an eggtimer fixed to the wall in their shower!) but you can be fined for breaking the drought restrictions in the garden if you're caught. The drought made me much more respectful of water in my daily life and much more thoughtful about how I use it.

I've also had unsettling experiences in meditation. I have some different ways of managing the fear and the overwhelming emotion - if it involves an unfriendly entity I offer them tea and cake and ask why are they here and what they have to teach me. The tea and cake seems to take the wind out of their sails. If it's revisiting emotions or past experiences I ask for help and support from Goddess, Spirit, guides, ancestors, angels - I can be quite indiscriminate sometimes! But I generally get through and the feeling of being supported and the trust that comes with it can be very beautiful.

[athelia143]

I am going through a phase that finds me unable to meditate. I can't figure out the problem, and it's really frustrating. I am blessed to have a wonderful new shower made from river stones on the floor and bench, and 12" sand-colored tile on the walls. I find that it's really easy to get into a space where I can actually feel the water running through my body; I can totally be "in" that waterfall photo.

So, I am wondering if y'all experience Druidry in everyday life like this?

I do, except, I have to imagine the waterfall because I have a pretty boring shower - one of those utility showers. In the morning, I imagine myself under a waterfall and being cleansed and empowered for the day. I even take the last part of my shower cold just to get that feeling.

However, I do have one of those lovely soaker tubs with room enough on the ledges to put candles and such. At night, I'll often light the candles, turn out all of the lights and say my evening prayers to Brighid. While I can do my devotions anywhere and at any time, the bath just makes them so much more meaningful and relaxing. It gives me the ability to "remove" myself from the everyday world for just a moment and appreciate the simple but profound sacredness of water, candlelight and stillness.

As for meditating, I've never been the best at the visualizations and such, because I think more in words and experiences than in pictures. It used to frustrate me that I couldn't meditate the way it says to in so many of the books on meditation and modern Druidry. It was an article by Pema Chodron that clarified everything for me. She was writing about how her teacher taught meditation by saying "Just sit and be". People couldn't seem to grasp that, so he added the breathing exercise and dismissing of thoughts to it. Pema then said that the most basic way to meditate was to sit and stare idly about 6 foot down and in front of you and just let mind wander. If an emotion emerged, feel it, experience it and just be.

When I read that part, I realized that I have been meditating just fine all along. Ever since I was small, I'd just sit, not focus on anything and just "be". My parents called it "spacing out", but I was perfectly aware of what was going on around me, but I was just going into that alpha state. Certain classes in school seemed to induce that state for me as well.

I find a lot of books on modern Pagan practices seem to promote meditation as something that requires you to travel in certain landscapes and do certain things, but meditation at its most basic form is what people often refer to as "spacing out" or being in the moment.

It is my belief that we all have been able to do this since we were little kids, but often got told to "pay attention" and "stop daydreaming" so much by the authority figures in our early lives that we forgot how to hit this alpha state naturally. Since giving myself permission again, I've been finding it's a very relaxing experience and very enlightening too!

Athelia /|\

[Serenity]

Athelia
Pema has been a big influence in my meditation too. Tea and cakes for the things that frighten is a Pema technique.

[DaRC]

"Sometimes I sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits."